- Text Size:
- Small Text
- Medium Text
- Large Text
Girl Getaways
Women-only golf escapes feature beautiful courses, top instruction and a fun, stress-free atmosphere.
By Ashley Mayo and Dana White July/August 2007
Celebrity Course at the Indian Wells Golf Resort in Indian Wells, Calif.
Golf outfitters offer female buddy trips based on several assumptions: that women have more fun in a social and supportive environment; that we need a break from our busy, overscheduled lives (and, sometimes, from men); and that we like to be pampered in the process. The usual options include resort-sponsored packages and all-inclusive golf getaways that may be held at a single resort or travel to various destinations.
And then there's the new Rosie Jones Golf Getaways. Hosted by the LPGA Tour veteran, these unique vacations capitalize on Jones' 25 years of tour experience. Her clients not only get to play alongside one of golf's greats for five days, they also receive a behind-the-scenes tour of select LPGA events. "It's like a fantasy camp," says Jones. Her inaugural trip in Palm Springs coincided with the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship and included dinner with LPGA Hall of Famer Amy Alcott.
The concept of women-only golf getaways began in 1960, when Peggy Kirk Bell and Ellen Griffin established the Pine Needles Ladies Only Golfari in North Carolina (so-named because it is "a safari of golf"). Bell wanted to attract more women to the game. "Some women are intimidated by men," she says. "Our female instructors relate to their needs much better."
Enterprising women continue to follow Bell's lead, starting golf programs as a form of female empowerment. In 2006 Bev Sanders, a longtime action-sports entrepreneur, founded Las Verdes Golf Safaris for Women, held at Quail Lodge Resort and Golf Club in Carmel Valley, Calif. Sanders, who has run the popular Las Olas Surf Safaris for women since 1997, decided to offer the Golf Safaris after moving to Carmel-by-the-Sea and seeing how men outnumbered women on the local courses.
"Bringing women into the game with activities like yoga, shopping and massages makes learning it more fun," explains Sanders, a new golfer herself. "That's our motto: We make girls out of women."
- Text Size:
- Small Text
- Medium Text
- Large Text
